Cubic Zirconia
Cubic Zirconia (specifically Lesser Cubic Zirconia Facet-7X4H Cut-3EJ) is a Homeworld agent that was sent to Earth on White Diamond's orders, sneaking aboard Peridot's vessel. Currently, she has no permanent residence, travelling regularly between Earth and Mars in search of more functional Gems. Appearance Cubic Zirconia, as a Gem type originally made to represent a Diamond, is noticeably taller than most unfused Gems, being roughly the height of the fusion Gem Opal. Her skin is white, with yellow eyes, and she has light gray hair and a pointed nose. Her gemstone is diamond-shaped and faceted, and is on the back of her left hand. Her right arm has a bracer on it, with a white diamond shape on the top that can project images. This bracer is not part of her body, but she can still alter its color. Debut In "Signs of Life," Cubic Zirconia had an appearance with bright colors, including bright yellow eyes. She had a short and neat haircut, and a singular bang styled to resemble a diamond. She wore a navy top with a pale blue X-shaped design upon it bearing a white diamond in the center, and pale blue, diamond-shaped shoulder guards. She also had black leggings and a purple skirt and boots. Her left hand had a pale blue, fingerless glove on it, with an opening on the back for her gemstone. Current As of "Welcome to Mars," Cubic Zirconia changed her form to what she describes as her "regular attire." Her eyes are a more pastel shade of yellow, and her hairstyle has changed to a smaller bob with a point in the back, the diamond-shaped bangs gone. She wears a long-sleeved, gray, V-necked dress with a dark gray collar, line down the front and back, and "belt" similar to the belt she wore on her previous outfit. The front has a white diamond, while the back has the Diamond Authority's current insignia on it. Her leggings are unchanged, while her boots, bracer, and glove are now dull purple. Personality Despite being a Homeworld Gem, Cubic Zirconia doesn't care about how well individual Gems adhere to the Homeworld hierarchy; rather, her sole concern is practicality. She will respect an off-color Gem such as Basalt if they are any less "defective" than notoriously underpowered Era 2 Gems. However, she is still uncomfortable with cross-Gem fusion, and frowns upon casual fusion. Cubic Zirconia is a careful planner, not leaving for Earth until she's certain the Cluster isn't going to emerge on her while she's there. While she is socially adept and shows care for others, she has expectations for other Gems' behavior. As she spent most of her existence on Homeworld, these expectations were almost never challenged, so she becomes surprised and even confused when they are. History Cubic Zirconia was created for Homeworld's spy ring at some point during Era 2. She was assigned to investigating lesser Gems under Yellow Diamond's command, much of her information being sent to White and Yellow Diamond. This eventually led to her learning about the Crystal Gems' existence and informing her superior of this development. Cubic Zirconia was eventually ordered to travel to Earth herself and search for any other Gems that may have survived the Diamond attack. To save energy, she snuck aboard Peridot's hand ship and left it as it disembarked from Earth, just minutes before it crashed and exploded. When confronted by Tiger's Eye on Mars, Cubic Zirconia fabricated a false story to explain her actions up to that point. According to her, she fled Homeworld to escape a lazy Diamond Authority, and took the form of a defective Amethyst to keep herself from being found out. Abilities Because of the nature of her creation, Cubic Zirconia has standard Gem abilities despite being an Era 2 Gem. However, as a Lesser Zirconia, she isn't quite as powerful as a Greater Zirconia. Skillset * Pistol Proficiency: Cubic Zirconia's weapon is a pistol that fires bullets made of light. These bullets are almost as damaging as their human equivalent, able to interrupt a typical Gem's form or crack their Gemstone with a direct hit. She claims it can shatter a Gem with ease, though this is just a scare tactic. * Rhetoric: Cubic Zirconia can be manipulative, able to put together a convincing argument even in a pinch. This allows her to talk her way out of dangerous situations. Unique Abilities * Enhanced Shapeshifting: Cubic Zirconia's shapeshifting is far more powerful than the average Gem's. She can alter her physical form down to her voice and the colors of her body, and can even hide her gemstone with her physical form. This allows her to mimic almost anything flawlessly, including different Gem types and non-Gems. Tools * Bracer: Cubic Zirconia wears a bracer on her right arm with Era 2 level technology. ** Hologram Projection: Cubic Zirconia's bracer can project holograms that she can interact with. She regularly uses this feature for note taking. Relationships Basalt Upon first meeting her, Cubic Zirconia was amused and later annoyed by Basalt's stubborn behavior, and accidentally set her off by consistently calling her "Obsidian." Since then, she worked on improving her relationship to try and convince them to leave Earth, which eventually led to Basalt getting poofed and taken to Mars against her will. Cubic Zirconia is mostly oblivious to how strongly this impacted their relationship, believing it instead to be a result of the sudden change of planets. Crazy Lace Agate Cubic Zirconia views Crazy Lace Agate as she would any other Agate, believing her timid behavior to actually be from a combination of being "out of practice" and in the presence of a Zirconia (herself). She treats the Agate as Basalt's superior despite all evidence suggesting the contrary. White Diamond Despite having been made to serve her, Cubic Zirconia has never met White Diamond personally, receiving all orders from the Greater Zirconias instead. White Zirconia As her subordinate, Cubic Zirconia respects, admires, and even fears White Zirconia. She is completely unaware of her superior's past or inner feelings, and, much like the other Lesser Zirconias, sees White Zirconia as a powerful, commanding leader. Trivia * Cubic Zirconia's original design was partially based on actual cubic zirconia, keeping in mind the vibrant "fire" it exhibits under light. * Cubic Zirconia's corrupted form would resemble a pangolin, and her back would be covered in crystals. * Cubic Zirconia is one of several Mars AU Gems associated with a Major Arcana tarot card; specifically, "The Magician." ** This is due to her willful, manipulative nature. * If Cubic Zirconia fused with Basalt, they would form a Moldavite. ** This fusion is currently hypothetical, but it is possible that the two Gems will fuse in canon. Gemstone Gemology Gemstone Information * Cubic zirconia (not to be confused with zircon) is a crystalline variant of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). It has a hardness of 8 to 8.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. * Because zirconium dioxide rarely forms crystals naturally, almost if not all cubic zirconia samples are synthetic. To get varying colors, different metals are added as coloring agents. * Cubic zirconia is almost exclusively used as a diamond simulant, or an inexpensive alternative to actual diamond. * Despite being effectively synthetic, cubic zirconia, like many gemstones, is said to have metaphysical properties. * Cubic zirconia is associated with mental clarity and enlightenment, and with the third eye and solar plexus chakras. * Much like with diamonds, different colors of cubic zirconia are reported to have varying metaphysical properties.Category:Characters Category:Loyalists Category:Cubic Zirconias Category:Independents Category:Homeworld Gems Category:Martian Arcana Category:White Diamond Gems Category:White Colored Gems Category:Unknown Colony Gems Category:Active Gems Category:Era 2 Gems Category:Spy Ring Members